Multi-component heat exchanger



Aug. 16, 1966 A. HUET MULTI-COMPONENT HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Nov. 2'7,1963 T. I J. \hww fi w INVENTOR.

ANDRE HUET United States Patent M MULTI-COMPONENT HEAT EXCHANGER AndreHuet, 48 Ave. du President Wilson, Paris, France Filed Nov. 27, 1963,Ser. No. 326,442 Claims priority, application France, Dec. 17, 1956,

' 783,113, Patent 1,221,652 9 Claims. (Cl. 165-145) This is acontinuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 849,320, filed October28, 1959, now abandoned, which. in turn is a division of Serial No.702,048, filed December 11, 1957, now Patent No. 2,983,260, granted May9, 1961.

This invention relates generally to chain reactors and more particularlyto heat exchange apparatus for use therein.

Heat exchanger apparatus heretofore have been constructed in whichcolumnar ducts are arranged in an upstanding position. These apparatushave a plurality of heat exchange elements within each columnar duct.Thus, for example, the individual columnar ducts may hold economizers,evaporators, and superheaters therein serially connected or in seriesparallel flow paths such that in effect, each columnar duct is in effecta complete boiler unto itself. The heating medium is flowedlongitudinally of the individual columnar ducts for carrying out heatexchange between the fluid flowing through the duct and a fluid withinthe above described flow paths through the individual heat exchangeelements. This has'resulted in a generally high temperature diiferentialbetween the upper and lower end of the columnar ducts thereby creatingareas or zones within the individual ducts in which the duct and theelements therein are subjected to completely different operatingtemperatures resulting in a wide difference in expansion and contractionof the elements in the various zones of operation of the columnar ducts.

This difference of temperature and resultant contraction and expansiondifferentials has given rise to com plex problems of construction andsuspension of the heat transfer units within steam generating plants,for example chain reactors.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide amulti-component heat exchanger for use in steam generating plants, forexample in chain reactors, in which the general arrangement of thevarious columnar ducts and the heat exchange elements therein arearranged such that the apparatus has clearly defined operating zonesoperating at a given temperature and while the individual zones mayoperate at different temperatures the arrangement is such that one zonedoes not affect a next successive zone or create expansion andcontraction problems or difliculties therein as heretofore encounteredin the known multi-component heat exchange apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple andeffective suspension arrangement for the heat exchanger'according to theinvention. The suspension arrangement provides for ease of movement forexpansion and contraction of the various elements even though this isminimized by virtue of the arrangement of the heat exchange elements inthe heat exchanger according to the invention.

A principal feature of the heat exchanger according to the presentinvention is the arrangement of the heat exchanger elements into aplurality of groups within which the heat exchange elements of thegroups are of alike heat exchange elementsand units. According to theinvention a pluralityof substantially parallel col'umnar'ducts arearranged in a plurality of substantially parallel rows. The individualducts within these rows are positioned vertically anddefine with theducts of the sequential parallel rows other parallel rows generally dis-Patented August 16, 1966 posed substantially perpendicular to the firstmentioned parallel rows.

The apparatus comprises a plurality of inlet headers disposed parallelto corresponding ones of the first mentioned parallel rows and aplurality of outlet headers similarly disposed substantially parallel tothe respective ones of the first mentioned parallel rows. The outletheaders of the individual rows are connected by conduitmeans with theinlet header of the next successive row of columnar ducts so that therows are serially connected. The ducts of each of the parallel rows arecon nected to a common inlet header and to a common outlet header. Thusa heating fluid can be flowed through the inlet headers and alongparallel paths through the individual columnar ducts of the respectiveparallel rows and then out the common individual headers of the rows.The columnar ducts of each of the individual first mentioned parallelrows comprise a predetermined type of heating unit. For example, thecolumnar ducts of a first row may each enclose therein a superheater andthese are serially connected to the next successive row in which may bedisposed, for example, evaporators or steam generating elements withineach one of the re spective columnar ducts. Thus, it will be understoodthat each parallel row has alike heat exchange units within theindividual columnar ducts therein through which the heat transfer mediumor fluid is being flowed therethrough in parallel paths. Thus, it willbe appreciated that all of the heat exchange units in a given row arebeing subjected to substantially the same operating conditions in thesense of same operating temperatures such that the heat contraction andexpansion incident to the similar operating conditions results insimilar expansion and contraction of the elements within a given row orzone of the heat exchanger.

Another feature of the heat exchanger according to the invention is thatthe individual rows of columnar ducts with heat exchanger elementstherein are mounted or suspended within the reactor in a simplesuspension system providing optimum support for the columnar ducts eventhough contraction and expansion problems are minimized by the generalarrangement of the heat exchange elements and ducts as above described.The arrangement provides for allowing assembly of the heat exchanger andmounting thereof substantially in a completed condition.

Other features and advantages of the heat exchanger apparatus inaccordance with the present invention will be better understood asdescribedin the following specifica- 'tion and appended claims, inconjunction with the following drawing in which: 9

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a vertical section of a heat exchangerunit and illustrates the arrangement of heat exchange elements thereinin the manner heretofore employed;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation section view illustrating thearrangement of heat exchange elements and units in a heat exchangeapparatus according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger according to theinvention illustrating the parallel and serial arrangement of heatexchanger units and elements according to the invention.

According to the drawing, FIG. 1 illustrates a columnar duct l disposedin an upstanding position provided with an inlet 1a and an outlet 1b forflowing a heating fluid longitudinally through the duct supplied throughthe inlet and discharged out the outlet. The duct 1 comprises aplurality. of heat exchange elements therein arranged as hereinafterdescribed in a known arrangement resulting in operation such that theduct 1 and the components therein operate in substantial temperaturedifferentials resulting in complex problems of contraction and expansionand difficulties in suspension of the entire heat exchange apparatus,for example, within a steam generating apparatus. The known arrangementprovides a low pressure stage comprising an economizer or pre-heater 3supplied, for example, with water through an inlet 5 and in series witha steam generator or evaporator 6 connected in series with a superheater7. The steam generated in this low pressure stage is removed from thecolumnar duct through a conduit 9. Within the same columnar duct 1 isprovided a high pressure stage comprising a water inlet 10 for supplyingwater to a pre-heater 12 in series with a steam generator section orevaporator 14 in series with a superheater 15. The superheated steam isremoved through an outlet conduit 17. It can be appreciated that in thearrangement illustrated in FIG. 1, the high pressure and low pressurestages result by virtue of the fact that the superheater 15, evaporator14 and economizer 12 extract a considerable amount of heat from theincoming heating medium before any of the units of the low pressurestage come into contact with the heating medium. Moreover, those skilledin the art will recognize that by virtue of the operating temperaturedifferentials the heat exchange unit 1 in combination with the heatingelements therein is operating under conditions in which there aresubstantial dilferences in expansion and contraction of the variouselements tending to cause distortion and complicate the problem ofsuspending the heat exchange unit 1, for example, in the steamgenerating plant or boiler configuration.

A heat exchange apparatus according to the invention is illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 illustrates diagrammatically the general overallarrangement and grouping of the heat exchange units and the heatexchange elements therein and FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a heatexchanger apparatus in accordance with the principles illustrated inFIG. 2.

The heat exchanger apparatus according to the invention comprises aplurality of elongated, tubular columnar ducts 21-25 arranged seriallyconnected as illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 2. It will beunderstood that in the diagrammatic illustration in FIG. 2 each of thecolumnar ducts 21-25 is representative of the row of parallel ducts ashereinafter described with reference to FIG. 3.

In the arrangement according to the invention a heating medium, forexample a heating fiuid, is supplied through an inlet conduit 27 andflows longitudinally through the first columnar duct 21 and isdischarged through an outlet conduit 29 connected with an inlet 30 ofthe next successive or sequentially arranged columnar ducts and isfinally discharged from the final outlet conduit 32 of the last seriescolumnar duct 25. Internally of the tubular elongated ducts, the heatingfluid flows around and about respective heat transfer elements. Asuperheater 35 is disposed in the first columnar duct 21 of the seriesand this is connected in series With an evaporator or steam generator 36in series with an economizer 37 forming the high pressure stagecomparable to the high pressure stage in the arrangement illustrated inFIG. 1. The low pressure stage, on the other hand, is arranged with asuperheater 39 in the duct 23 along with the superheater of the highpressure stage and in series connection with an evaporator 40 and arespective economizer 41. It being understood, that the individual heatexchange elements in the ducts are provided with conduit means forproviding a series fluid flow therein, for example for water so thatsteam can be generated within the successive ducts and superheated thendelivered to a place where it will be made use of.

In embodying the principles of the invention the heat exchangerapparatus is constructed as illustrated in FIG. 3. In order to correlatethe drawings similar reference numbers will be employed in FIG. 3 as inFIG. 2. Moreover, although a plurality of tubes are arranged in theparallel row arrangement of the heat exchanger only one 4 of each of theindividual ducts will be referred to in order to correlate FIGS. 2 and3.

In the practical embodiments of the invention, a plurality of ducts 21are arranged in a parallel row and are connected by conduits 41 with aninlet header 42 which is common to all of the columnar ducts in thefirst row. It being understood that the header 42 is comparable to theconduit 27 of FIG. 2. An outlet header 44 in parallel with the rowparallel ducts 21 is connected through conduit means 45 providingcommunication from the individual ducts 21 to the common header 44.

A plurality of rows of columnar ducts designated 22, 23, 24, 25 areprovided. The individual rows are formed of a plurality of columnarducts in the manner described with respect to the first row comprisingthe ducts 2-1. The outlet header of each of the successive rows isconnected to the inlet header of the next successive row. For example,the outlet header 44 is connected to an inlet header 47 of the row ofparallel ducts designated 22 which are connected to the header 47 incommon. The second row of ducts is connected in common to an outletheader 48 which is connected to an inlet header 49 of the nextsuccessive row and this arrangement is continued in sequence until thefinal row discharges through an outlet header 51 which is comparable tothe outlet 32 of the diagrammatic illustration in FIG. 2.

In each of the parallel rows, the ducts of each parallel row havesimilar heating exchange elements. For example, the first row or ductscomprising the ducts 2 1 has nothing but superheaters as illustrated inthe diagramrnatic illustrations in FIG. 2 and the next successive row ineach of the ducts evaporators are disposed therein and the final rowcomprising the ducts 25 has the economizers comparable to the economizer41. The intermediate rows have similar heat exchange elements to therows illustrated in FIG. 2. Those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe individual heat exchange elements are therefore grouped and theindividual rows of ducts connected to respective inlet and outletheaders have substantially alike operating conditions with respect toany expansion and contraction of the component parts thereof.

The columnar duct-s which are disposed in an upstanding position in theindividual rows are preferably arranged with the ducts of the nextsuccessive rows in correspondence therewith or parallel alignment sothat rows are formed in a direction normal to the pane of the paper orinto the pane of the paper to provide optimum symmetrical arrangement.However, it will be understood that although this kind of an alignmentis not necessary, the rows must be such that each successive row has aduct in series with the elements of the preceding ducts even through theindividual ducts of the first mentioned parallel rows are connected inparallel.

In order to simplify the suspension of the entire assembly, the heatexchange apparatus is preferably mounted in a simple suspensionarrangement for example as illustrated in FIG. 3 in which parallelgirders 54, 55 are built within the react-or or boiler, not shown, andacross which are disposed a plurality of freely movalble beams 57spanning the space between the girders and each resting on a pair ofrollers 59 at one end thereof and a similar pair at the opposite end forexample as illustrated at 60 in the first row. The individual ducts arereadily supported on projections 65, 66 extending outwardly therefromadjacent an upper portion of the ducts and are supported on a pair ofspaced projections 69, 70 extending normal from the longitudinallyextending beams 57.

The arrangement of the ducts and heating elements therein, aside frompermitting optimum conditions for operations and a simplifiedarrangement, permits mass assembly of the individual respective rows andrelated units and headers. The assembled rows can then easily betransported to a steam generating apparatus readily mounted and finallyassembled in view of the easy manner in which the suspension assembly isconstructed.

Thus, for example, the whole assembly can be transported into the placeof use and then lifted into position and the beams inserted intoposition for holding the heat exchanger in a suspended condition.Moreover, individ ual rows can be all prefabricated, suspended and thenjoining conduits installed. The simplicity of the suspension meanspermits a wide latitude of techniques of preasse'nrbling. Afterinstallation the reactor side covering portions, not shown, can bereadily installed.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that many modifications and changes canbe made within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by letters patent is:

1. A multi-component heat exchanger comprising, a plurality ofsubstantially parallel columnar ducts arranged in a plurality ofsubstantially parallel rows, a plurality of inlet headers comprising oneof said inlet headers for each of said rows of ducts, said inlet headersbeing disposed parallel to the rows of columnar ducts, a plurality ofoutlet headers comprising an outlet header for said columnar ducts ofeach one of said parallel rows and disposed parallel to said rows, meansfor each columnar duct in said rows providing an inletin communicationwith a respective common inlet header, means for each columnar duct insaid ro'ws providing an outlet in communication with a respective one ofsaid outlet headers for flowing a heating fluid through said columnarducts in parallel in each of said rows, means connecting in series theoutlet headers of the columnar ducts arranged in the successive parallelrows of columnar duets with the inlet headers of the next successive rowof said parallel rows of columnar ducts, a plurality of heat exchangeelements, each of said columnar ducts containing at least one of saidheat exchange elements internally thereof, said heat exchange elementshaving means defining a fluid flow path counter to the direction of flowof heating fluid through a respective columnar duct in which theindividual heat exchange elements are disposed and an inlet means andoutlet means extending out-wardly of the respective ducts and externallythereof, said heat exchange elements comprising a plurality ofevaporators, superheaters and economizers arranged in a predeterminedcombination in said parallel rows.

2. A multi-comp'onent heat exchanger according to claim 1, in which thecolumnar ducts of one row of said rows contain superheater elements, thecolumnar ducts of a second row of said rows contain said evaporatorelements and the columnar ducts of a third row of said rows containeconomizer elements.

3. A multi-component heat exchanger according to claim 1, in which theheat exchange elements contained in the ducts of a first of said rowscomprise superheaters and the heat exchange elements contained in asecond and third next successive row comprise a steam generator in eachof the ducts of said second successive row and an economizer in each ofthe ducts of said successive third row, means connecting the economizersin series with the heat exchange elements of the first and second rows.

4. A multi-component heat exchanger according to claim 3, in which saidheat exchange elements in said third row of said successive rows furthercomprise a superheater in each of said ducts of said third row, meansconnecting the last-mentioned superheaters in series only with heatexchange elements in a fourth and fifth one of said parallel rows, saidheat exchange elements contained in each duct of said fourth rowcomprising steam generators and the heat exchange elements contained ineach duct of said fifth row comprising economizers.

5. A multi-component heat exchanger according to claim 4, in which theinlet header of said first row is disposed for receiving said heatingfluid and the outlet header of said fifth row is disposed fordischarging the heating fluid from said rows after flowing through theducts of the successive rows successively.

6. A multi-component heat exchanger according to claim 1, comprisingmeans for suspending said ducts vertically disposed comprising aplurality of horizontally disposed parallel beams having projectionscomprising paired projections extending laterally therefrom forreleasably receiving and supporting each of said ducts, said ducts eachcomprising lateral projections for suspending said ducts from arespective pair of said paired projections.

7. A multi-component heat exchanger comprising, a plurality ofsubstantially parallel columnar ducts arranged in a plurality ofsubstantially parallel rows and arranged with the ducts in said rowspositioned to define other parallel rows generally disposedperpendicular to the first-mentioned rows, a plurality of inlet headers,comprising one inlet header for each of said first-mentioned rows ofducts, said inlet headers being disposed parallel to the first-mentionedrows of columnar ducts, a plurality of outlet headers comprising anoutlet header for each of said columnar ducts in each row of saidfirstmentioned parallel rows and disposed parallel to saidfirst-mentioned rows, means for each columnar duct in said rowsproviding an inlet in communication with a respective common inletheader, means for each columnar duct in said rows providing an outlet incommunication with a respective one of said outlet headers in common forflowing a heating fluid through said columnar ducts of each respectiverow in parallel, means connecting in series the outlet header-s of thecolumnar ducts arranged in the successive parallel rows of columnarducts with the inlet headers of the next successive row of said parallelrows of columnar ducts, a plurality of heat exchanger elements, each ofsaid columnar ducts containing at least one of said heat exchangerelements internally thereof, said heat exchanger elements having meansdefining a fluid flow path counter to the direction of flow of fluidthrough a respective columnar duct in which the individual heatexchanger elements are disposed and an inlet means and outlet meansextending outwardly of the respective ducts and externally thereof, saidheat exchanger elements comprising a plurality of evaporators,superheaters and economizers arranged in a predetermined combination insaid parallel rows.

8. A multi-component heat exchanger according to claim 7, in which thecolumnar ducts of one row of the first-mentioned rows containsuperheater elements, the columnar ducts of a second row of saidfirst-mentioned rows contain said evaporator elements and the columnarducts of a third row of the first-mentioned rows contain economizerelements.

9. A multi-component heat exchanger according to claim 7, in which saidcolumnar ducts are arranged upstanding and said inlet headers arearranged above respective rows of columnar ducts in communicationtherewith and said inlet headers are arranged below respective rows ofcolumnar ducts in communication therewith.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,810,178 6/1931Jacobus -145 2,004,075 6/ 1935 Koenemann 122-32 2,229,554 1/ 1941Cummings 12232 2,310,801 2/1943 Mayo et a1. 122-510 FOREIGN PATENTS249,333 3/ 1926 Great Britain.

MEYER PERLIN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner.

A. W. DAVIS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MULTI-COMPONENT HEAT EXCHANGER COMPRISING, A PLURALITY OFSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL COLUMNAR DUCTS ARRANGED IN A PLURALITY OFSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL ROWS, A PLURALITY OF INLET HEADERS COMPRISING ONEOF SAID INLET HEADERS FOR EACH OF SAID ROWS OF DUCTS, SAID INLET HEADERSBEING DISPOSED PARALLEL TO THE ROWS OF COLUMNAR DUCTS, A PLURALITY OFOUTLET HEADERS COMPRISING AN OUTLET HEADER FOR SAID COLUMNAR DUCTS OFEACH ONE OF SAID PARALLEL ROWS AND DISPOSED PARALLEL TO SAID ROWS, MEANSFOR EACH COLUMNAR DUCT IN SAID ROWS PROVIDING AN INLET IN COMMUNICATIONWITH A RESPECTIVE COMMON INLET HEADER, MEANS FOR EACH COLUMNAR DUCT INSAID ROWS PROVIDING AN OUTLET IN COMMUNNICATION WITH A RESPECTIVE ONE OFSAID OUTLET HEADERS FOR FLOWING A HEATING FLUID THROUGH SAID COLUMNARDUCTS IN PARALLEL IN EACH OF SAID ROWS, MEANS CONNECTING IN SERIES THEOUTLET HEADERS OF THE COLUMNAR DUCTS ARRANGED IN THE SUCCESSIVE PARALLELROWS OF COLUMNAR DUCTS WITH THE INLET HEADERS OF THE NEXT SUCCESSIVE ROWOF SAID PARALLEL ROWS OF COLUMNAR DUCTS, A PLURALITY OF HEAT EXCHANGEELEMENTS, EACH OF SAID COLUMNAR DUCTS CONTAINING AT LEAST ONE OF SAIDHEAT EXCHANGE ELEMENTS INTERNALLY THEREOF, SAID HEAT EXCHANGE ELEMENTSHAVING MEANS DEFINING A FLUID FLOW PATH COUNTER TO THE DIRECTION OF FLOWOF HEATING FLUID THROUGH A RESPECTIVE COLUMNAR DUCT IN WHICH THEINDIVIDUAL HEAT EXCHANGE ELEMENTS ARE DISPOSED AND AN INLET MEANS ANDOUTLET MEANS EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OF THE RESPECTIVE DUCTS AND EXTERNALLYTHEREOF, SAID HEAT EXCHANGE ELEMENTS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OFEVAPORATORS, SUPERHEATERS AND ECONOMIZERS ARRANGED IN A PREDETERMINEDCOMBINATION IN SAID PARALLEL ROWS.